Talent Show
by RatchetTheWrenchThrower
Summary: Eden and Sam convense Optimus to have an On-Base Talent show that ends in a way no one expected.


This started off light, but the more I wrote, the more it changed. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Review please.

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><p>Eden smiled widely as she looked at how the Rec-Room had been transformed into a stage with enough seating for everyone on base, including the Autobots. She and Sam had proposed the base do a talent show as a celebration of the recent successful mission against the Decepticons.<p>

Optimus had, surprisingly, agreed to the idea and thus the stage had been built. It was easy to assemble and easy to remove. There were thick wine colored velvet curtains that two soldiers would be pulling open and closing.

Eden, Sam, Will, Epps, Jazz, Sunny and Sides, Ironhide, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and several soldiers would be preforming, with Optimus, the Sec. Def., and another soldier as judges.

Sam's act was first. He did a surprisingly funny stand-up routine that had everyone roaring with laughter as he commented on each Deception's name and what they could mean. Will and Epps went next, showing everyone that they could juggle, and were damn good at it. They, by the end, were throwing bottles to each other at blurring speeds. Jazz did a dance routine that had the humans and Cybertronians alike in shock at how flexible he actually was. He performed to a beat-heavy rap song. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's act was rather surprising to the Humans. Sunstreaker painted a stunning picture while Sideswipe recited some of his own poems. The two were greeted with thunderous applause, and bowed their way off stage. Ironhide showed just how steady his hand was as he shot small darts to form a perfect image of Optimus. Ratchet threw his wrenches with scary accuracy and landed everyone in the center of his target. Bumblebee spoke with great difficulty to recite a poem of his own, something that shocked everyone present, including the bots. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had been well known artists on Cybertron, but Bumblebee had been the last youngling born, and by then, the war had been well underway. He had kept his talent to himself since.

Eden was going last. She had watched and cheered with every act her friends, her family had put on until it was her turn. Only one bot knew what she was doing, and he was helping to set up the pictures. She wore a simple dark blue dress with gray leggings and blue ballet flats. She held a worn acoustic guitar, and a screen was set up behind her. She began to strum on her guitar, a sad smile on her face as the first picture showed on the screen.

"I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh." The picture showed two girls, one older by a few years. They were laughing as they were pushed on a swing.

"I want to hold you high and steal your pain away

I keep your photograph; and I know it serves me well

I want to hold you high and steal your pain." Another picture appeared then, showing those same two girls cuddled together as they watched a movie. The younger looked noticeably smaller this time. Her skin was paler and she looked weaker.

"Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're nowhere

You've gone away,

You don't feel me here anymore." The next picture was of the girls, except the younger was in a hospital bed with the other asleep beside her. The younger was hooked to several machines and had a trach.

"The worst is over now and we can breathe again

I want to hold you high, and steal my pain away

There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight

I want to hold you high and steal your pain

Cause I'm broken when I'm open

And I don't feel like I am strong enough

Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away." The following pictures showed the younger girl growing sicker and sicker, her hair gone in some. She was always smiling though, and the older was always with her. Sam, who had known who the girls were since the first picture, was crying.

"Cause I'm broken when I'm open

And I don't feel like I am strong enough

Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away." The last picture was of a grave with a bundle of roses. The older girl was crying as she sat before it. The picture was close enough that the words were plain to everyone.

_Taylor Rebecca Witwicky_

_1998-2006 (8)_

_Beloved Daughter, Sister, and a joy to everyone around her_

"_Keep smiling sissy"_

Eden had tears pouring down her face as she walked off stage. Sam caught her in a hug, crying as well. When he turned, she was pulled against Optimus, the closest thing she had to a father. He held her tightly as she cried, still mourning her little sister she'd lost only three years before to cancer.

"She knew you loved her" Optimus whispered into his daughter's ear.

"And I know she loved me. I'll see her again someday, when I begin the next adventure."


End file.
